• Contact Us
• Site Map

• Who We Are
  • Our Team
  • Eos Fellows
  • Open Positions
  • Contact Us
  • History
• 
• How We Work
  • Approach
  • Program Areas
• 
• Grants
  • Portfolio
  • Emergency Assistance
  • Investment Profiles
  • Applying for Funds
• 
• Major Initiatives
  • Boston Rising
• 
• In the News
  • Andrea's Op Eds
  • Eos in the News
  • Grantees in the News
  • Emergency Assistance
•  

Eos Foundation Aids Summer Food Programs

Many children living in poverty have their healthiest meal of the day at school. In fact, over 100,000 Bay State kids receive a free or reduced-price meal during the school year. But what happens when school is out? The Food Research and Action Center reports that only 22% of the Massachusetts children who eat a subsidized lunch during the school year do the same when school is not in session. The Boston Globe reported that the problem is especially severe in suburban communities, because the government only pays for summer food programs in locations where more than 50% of students receive free or reduced-price meals. That’s why the Eos Foundation provided financial support to seven Summer Food Programs across the state this year (including in several communities highlighted by the Globe), funding initiatives to feed kids locally-grown fresh fruit and vegetables.

Eos’ Summer Food grants will provide additional aid to federally-funded Summer Food Service Programs run by the Barnstable County Department of Human Services, the Friendly House in Worcester, the Healthy Peabody Collaborative, and the Framingham, Salem, Springfield, and Waltham Public Schools.

The sites were identified in collaboration with Project Bread, a nonprofit dedicated to alleviating and ending hunger in Massachusetts. Project Bread provides grants to numerous Summer Food Service Programs across the state, and operates the Food Source Hotline, which answers 37,000 calls per year to help families in need identify programs through which they can obtain healthy food.

Says Project Bread Director of Education Policy Elaine Taber, “We know there are pockets of poverty throughout Massachusetts, and particularly in this economic climate, those pockets have gotten a lot deeper. For kids who rely on free and reduced-price meals during the school year, when they’re out of school, they’re often left in a situation that can be dire for their nutrition.” Each year, Project Bread funds over 400 food pantries, soup kitchens, and food banks across Massachusetts. The group also advocates for systemic change to prevent hunger. Their annual Walk for Hunger is the oldest continual pledge walk in the U.S., and this year raised nearly $4 million.

Project Bread has focused its summer food advocacy on raising awareness among parents, and providing grants to improve the nutritional quality of the food and create programming to draw kids to the lunch sites. Says Taber, “We know kids are not going to come to a park or school simply to get a sandwich. They want to have fun, and parents want it to be a safe place with some academics and enrichment.” With the help of art supplies or sports equipment, she says, “Food is seamlessly blended into the day.  We want to reduce the stigma as much as possible.”

Read more about hunger in Massachusetts and the Walk for Hunger.

# # #